Clippers miss by one to St. John's University

Box score

The Clippers faced off at Division I opponent St. John's University yesterday.  Doubles kicked off the match for the Clippers as Alex Grubin and Andrey Boldarev came out on top in their number one spot.  Grubin and Boldarev went toe to toe with their opponents as they stayed on serve.  A break point came along and Grubin and Boldarev took advantage.  Gaining the break point was crucial for the pair as they went ahead to give the Clippers the only doubles win of the day with an 8-5 score.

The other two doubles pairs mirrored each other on the court.  With Felix Missal and Raphael Namias at the number two spot and Tamas Dobrotka and Andreas Lindell at the number three each team would be pushed as they stayed on serve.  A break point chance for St. John's was up for each and the Clippers missed and fell 8-6.

With the Clippers down 2-1 after the doubles, they would have a lot of work to do.  Alex Grubin was playing at the number one singles spot as he was pushed on serve in the first set.  At five all Grubin broke to have a shot a serving out the set.  With his dominate serve Grubin took set number one 7-5.  Set two was also close as again Grubin and his opponent stayed on serve.  A break point never came for either one and the set was pushed into a tie break.  Grubin fell in the tie break and a third set super tie breaker was to be played.  As the previous sets proved the super tie breaker for Grubin was to be a long one.  At 12-12 Grubin got his break and earned the next point and won the match with a 14-12 third set super tie breaker. 

Tamas Dobrotka, at the number five slot, dominated in his first set as he broke his opponent's serve twice to gain a 6-2 win.  The second set for Dobrotka was a long one as he was broken and his opponent forced a third set.  Dobrotka pushed himself as both he and his opponet were on serve.  With the score at five all, Dobrotka got the break and won the match with a third set score of 7-5. 

Andrey Boldarev, at the number two spot, struggled against his opponent going down in the first set 6-2.  Boldarev was then broken in the second set and could not break back as he dropped the match in straight sets.

Felix Missal pushed his opponent at number three singles in the first set all the way to five all.  Missal lost a break point and ST. John's capilized and won the first set 7-5.  Missal then was broken two more times in the second set and fell 2-6.

Raphael Namias, playing at the number four spot, unfortunately was broken once in the first set.  The second set Namias could not recover as he fell in straight sets 4-6; 2-6.

Andreas Lindell, rounding out the Clippers line-up at the number six slot, was on point in the first set as he took the set with a 6-3 win.  In the second set Lindell went up 3-0 and then a series of unfortunate errors cause Lindell to drop the set 3-6.  A third set super tie-breaker was on tap for Lindell as he pushed through and came out on top with a 10-7 win to grab the match.

The Clippers unfortunately fell to St. John's 4-5. 

The Clippers will head to Philadelphia to take on both Philadelphia University and Chestnut Hill College on Saturday, April 10th.